The Siddhus of Upper Juhu could easily be titled The Joneses of Manhattan, The Nassars of Dubai or The Edwardses of Notting Hill.
That’s how easily the themes and frustrations of urban life portrayed in this comedy play translate across boundaries.
The play made its international debut at Ductac, Mall of the Emirates, this weekend as part of the inaugural Dubai Comedy Festival. It follows the life of Balvinder, or Bubbles (Rajit Kapur), and Behroze (Shernaz Patel) Siddhu, a middle-aged, middle-class couple who have used all their savings to buy a flat in Upper Juhu, an upscale seaside suburb of Mumbai.
Set in the Siddhus’ living room, the play opens with Bubbles unable to find a comfortable place to sleep. Enter Behroze, wanting to know what’s troubling her husband.
So begins the volley of complaints: an air conditioner that’s always at 12 degrees; walls like papads (thin wafers) that mean they are disturbed by construction noise, dogs barking and their neighbours; a toilet that only works when the handle is jiggled; a city with so much rubbish it won’t be long before the Siddhus will go from living on the 14th floor to the 2nd floor because everything below will be buried in rubbish; and Bubbles’s fear of loosing a job that he has had for 22 years – it’s not the two weeks leave he’s afraid of: “I’m afraid they’ll ask me to take the other 50 weeks off, too”.
When the couple’s house is robbed, Bubbles is finally forced to admit that he has already lost his job and they won’t be able to replace the stolen items.
Witty, well-paced and with terrific performances, the first half of the play nicely sets up Bubbles’s exasperation at how life has turned out.
The second half, while not as punchy, focuses on family dynamics. Behroze is working as a secretary. Bubbles has a nervous breakdown and his siblings – well-off brother Goldie (Shishir Sharma), and sisters Pammi (Kajli Sharma) and Shammi (Meera Khurana) – want to help but can’t agree on a how much financial support to offer. Bubbles does recover and the Siddhus seem to be making ends meet despite his continued joblessness.
There are a few chuckles, but they don’t come in rapid succession like they do in the first half, and distress, with life throwing more at the couple than we think they can handle, before the Siddhus get the last laugh.
kramgopal@thenational.ae
